TULAMBEN HAT-TRICK

Posted 20 October 2016 &nbsp&nbsp|&nbsp&nbsp 1732 views &nbsp&nbsp|&nbsp&nbsp Sport &nbsp&nbsp|&nbsp&nbsp Comments (0)Like a knight of yore on a sacred quest, NIGEL WADE finally faces the prospect of bringing an epic journey to a stirring conclusion – at a Balinese location he has already visited four times before! Can his quarry live up to the weight of expectation?

I’VE BEEN WAITING my whole diving life to catch a glimpse of
just one of these enigmatic and rare creatures, clocking up well over 100,000
miles travelling to the places where they live in the vain hope of an encounter
with this superstar of the underwater photographer’s world.

In the past I’ve mostly been greeted with: “You should have
been here last month” or, worse still, “No, we haven’t seen one of those in
years”.

So you can imagine my surprise when dive-guide Nina casually
dropped “and we’ve been seeing a few Rhinopias here too” into the sentence as
she delivered the afternoon dive-briefing.

The hairs on my arms stood up, and a shiver ran the length
of my spine as the excitement levels instantly went off the scale. This was
followed a few seconds later with a feeling of dread when I remembered all the
times I’d heard the same words, only to find this elusive animal conspicuous by
its absence.

After 20 minutes of fruitless searching, my pulse quickened
at the sight of dive-guide and spotter Norris hovering over the dirty
black-sand seabed.

He was punching the water with one hand and pointing at what
looked to be a bit of discarded rubbish with the other.

I finned closer. The anticipation was electric, but quickly
evaporated at the sight of a beautiful, striped wonderpus, its eight appendages
snaking in different directions as its oblong eyes set on stalks checked out
the commotion.

I shouldn’t have been crestfallen but I was – it was
impossible to hide my disappointment. My shoulders slumped, and I simply went
through the motions of taking a few snaps.

Norris could see that my heart wasn’t in it and grabbed me
by the arm. With a confused look he pointed again, this time a few feet past
the small octopus.

I followed his direction to see the ugliest of mugs staring
back at me, a creature with facial features only its mother could love. It had
huge white umbrella-like eyebrows and an upturned snout sporting what resembled
a Victorian moustache. This particular species is commonly known as a
paddleflap – wait for it – Rhinopias!

It was a beautiful moment, and the frustration and
unproductive searches of yesteryear melted away as my heart raced in my chest.

This little aquatic icon lay motionless on the algae and
black sand, propped up on its pectoral fins and posing like a professional
model as I frugally recorded its likeness with my camera.

I was lost in the moment, enjoying every second of this
long-awaited meeting while trying to ignore the frantic tank-banging coming
from a few metres away.

My wildly gesticulating guides were relentless and
determined to get my attention, so I reluctantly left the pink paddle-flap,
wondering what all the fuss was about. Then I froze, slack-jawed, as I gazed
at, not one, but two more Rhinopias lying a few feet apart.

Both were deep crimson in colour but very different in
appearance – one was another smooth-skinned paddle-flap, while the other had
lacy appendages all over its spotty red body.

This species, the frondosa, is possibly the most amazing critter
I’ve had the privilege to see under water.

The Rhinopias is a creature that’s haunted my dreams,
inspiring me to travel to the far-flung corners of Asia and beyond – and here I
was, face to face with three of them. I felt as if I’d scored the ultimate
hat-trick.

A face only its mother could love, that of a pink paddleflap.

TULAMBEN IS REGARDED as the diving epicentre of Bali’s
north-east. Nestled in the shadow of Mount Agung, this coastal fishing village
has numerous dive-resorts dotted along its volcanic shoreline, but few are as
luxurious or better-placed for divers than our home for a fortnight, Villa
Markisa.

The resort is the brainchild and home of Christiane
Waldrich, who first dived the Tulamben black-sand slopes in 2002. She found an
underwater realm rich in biodiversity, but it was her love of nudibranchs that
motivated her to explore the area further, and in the process she has
discovered and recorded more than 600 species of these multi-coloured sea
slugs.

Christiane built Villa Markisa adjacent to her favourite
critter hunting-ground at Seraya Secrets. The resort consists of bungalows,
villas and well-appointed rooms in the main house, a swimming pool, bar,
restaurant, spa and, of course, a fully equipped dive-centre.

Since its discovery, Seraya Secrets has become established
as one of the world’s best muck-diving sites. Creatures that are seemingly rare
in other parts of Indonesia regularly make an appearance here.

Harlequin shrimps, ghost pipefish, mimic octopus and pygmy
seahorses are just a few of the critters commonly found within a few fin-kicks
of Villa Markisa’s dive-centre.

On our first dive there, Balinese guide Sumatra pointed out
a number of beautifully marked tiger shrimps. We also found some truly
miniscule frogfish – sorry, did I say we? Some were so small that I couldn’t
actually see them without the aid of a magnified viewfinder, having to rely
solely on the sharp eyes and experience of the younger man.

Surprisingly, nudibranch sightings were few and far between,
the polar opposite from our visit to this site last year, when they appeared
abundant.

This is undoubtedly because of the current El Niño sweeping
the planet, elevating sea temperatures and causing distressed animals to seek
the deeper, possibly cooler waters further from

the coastline.

Those that can’t move often suffer the consequences, as was
the case with a few anemones, their bleached white tentacles, although
beautiful in appearance, marking their last sad throes of life.

TULAMBEN ISN’T ALL ABOUT muck-diving, however. Five minutes
north on Markisa’s small dive-boat lies one of the world’s most famous
wreck-sites.

The USAT Liberty was torpedoed and damaged on her way from
Lombok Strait in 1942. She was towed towards the harbour at Singaraja but,
taking on too much water, was beached at Tulamben to enable salvage of her
cargo and fittings.

The remains were left rusting on the beach until Mount Agung
erupted in 1963, and the resulting earth tremors and magma flow are said to
have caused the wreck to roll off the shore. It now lies on its starboard side
some 30m from the beach, totally encrusted in rich coral growth.

In past years the wreck has been home for a large school of
jack, forming tight tornadoes above and around the Liberty’s superstructure. I
was disappointed to discover that these much-photographed fish are no longer
present, having moved to possibly quieter or more productive hunting-grounds a
few years ago.

The current Liberty A-listers are the resident bumphead
parrotfish. These huge corallivores spend the night resting in the shelter of
the hull before congregating at the stern as the sun’s rays start to penetrate
the water. They briefly cruise the reef slopes, before dispersing to munch
their way around Tulamben’s numerous coral reefs.

The best time to be in the water is around 6am, with the sun
rising a few minutes later. This meant a pre-dawn start involving alarm clocks
and strong coffee, yet even at this ungodly hour other divers could already be
seen in the water as we rolled off the boat, a testament to the popularity of
thi

The Liberty’s resident A-listers are bumphead parrotfish.

IF DIVING ON MUCK OR WRECKS doesn’t light your fire, the
area immediately south of the Liberty offers prolific coral reefs and would be
our destination for a mid-morning dive.

Belying the unimaginative name of Coral Garden, the site
boasts a stunning anemone field housing differing species of clownfish at its
summit. Further down the reef slope, the topography changes to the now-familiar
volcanic black sand with sporadic coral outcrops.

One of these was frequented by hinge-beak, candy-stripe and
red-banded cleaner shrimp, all offering a wash-and- brush-up service to the
resident fish.

We watched in awe as a crimson coral trout swam slowly
around this cleaning station, its naturally cautious nature set aside as it
postured boldly, patiently waiting for a few of the resident shrimps to jump
onboard and meticulously pick away parasites from its body.

It was fascinating to see a potential shrimp supper
confidently move around this fearsome mini-predator’s array of sharp white
teeth, earning its own meal through a partnership born over millennia of mutual
trust.

I’m a reef-nut and, as nice as Coral Gardens are, I wanted
more. “That’s not a problem, Nigel,” Christiane told me. “We’re going further
south to visit a really spectacular reef tomorrow – are you coming”? That has
to be a trick question, I thought, overwhelmed by the anticipation of the coming
day’s diving.

Again leaving before sunrise, the skipper sped his boat over
glassy waters, hugging the coastline as Mount Agung’s peak caught the first of
the rising sun’s red glow. This outstanding sight alone was worth the effort of
the early start, but there were more spectacles to come.

After the short ride we arrived at the Pyramids. This site
consists of dozens of man-made structures, built from a variety of building
materials that include concrete blocks, tyres and metal tubing.

THE FIRST HOLLOW PYRAMID structure was built in the late
1990s, with others added later that have become the permanent residence for
countless marine animals, sponges and corals.

The first one we visited was enveloped by a swarm of golden
sweepers, hugging the contours of the structure as they expanded and contracted
during their endless search for passing plankton.

Others were covered in crinoids, their feathered fronds
appearing to soften the hard lines of the structures. The pyramids give way to
a fringing reef made up mainly of large coral bommies, again teeming with life.

I encouraged Nina to pose for a few photos by a densely
populated outcrop and, concentrating on capturing the moment, we both missed a
beautifully camouflaged ornate ghost pipefish.

Its livery had been almost invisible next to the crinoid it
mimicked – it was doing a great job of remaining hidden in plain sight, so much
so that we didn’t discover its existence until viewing the images later that
evening. The Pyramids and their adjacent reefs had proved every bit as
spectacular as Christiane had promised.

Night-diving on the black-sand sites can also yield some
memorable encounters. Submerging after the sun had dropped below the horizon at
Sidem, the home of the three Rhinopias, eagle-eyed guide Norris found some
rarely seen filamentous scorpionfish.

These tiny specimens share an uncanny resemblance to the
Rhinopias, but are only an inch or so in length.

Another first for me was the discovery of a mototi octopus.
This is a close relative of the blue-ringed octopus and has the same deadly
cocktail of toxins stored in its saliva. Unlike its famous cousin, however, the
mototi has only two iridescent blue rings, one on either side of its body, and
these are displayed when the animal is excited or feels threatened.

For me, Bali is the jewel in the crown of Asian diving. This
was my fifth voyage of discovery there, enjoyin

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